Pie in the Sky
Pie in the Sky is a British offbeat police comedy drama programme starring Richard Griffiths and Maggie Steed, created by Andrew Payne and first broadcast in five series on BBC1 between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997 as well as being syndicated on other channels in other countries, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series departs slightly from other police dramas in that the protagonist, Henry Crabbe, while still being an on-duty policeman, is also the head chef of the title restaurant set in the fictional town of Middleton and county of Westershire.
Seasons
1. The Best of Both Worlds
Air Date: 1994-03-13
Henry lets Hooperman escape, and Fisher takes the opportunity to suspend his retirement.
2. The Truth Will Out
Air Date: 1994-03-20
A delusional cop seeks to bring Fisher's ally down, and Henry recruits a new waiter.
3. An Innocent Man
Air Date: 1994-03-27
Pie in the Sky becomes the scene of a corruption sting, but Henry acts in favour of his customer.
4. Once a Copper
Air Date: 1994-04-03
Henry cooks a banquet for a visiting Japanese delegation, and tracks down a criminal from his past, who was presumed dead.
5. A Shot in the Dark
Air Date: 1994-04-10
A narcotics investigation ends in a bitten hand for Fisher, and Henry finds a new source of escargots.
6. Undesirable Elements
Air Date: 1994-04-17
Steve investigates the burglary of Pie in the Sky, while Henry does battle with murderous private sector cops.
7. Passion Fruit Fool
Air Date: 1994-04-24
The girlfriend of Henry's dry cleaner is kidnapped by a psychotic ex-lover.
8. A Matter of Taste
Air Date: 1994-05-01
Henry uncovers two separate wine scams in Middleton.
9. Who Only Stand and Wait
Air Date: 1994-05-08
Henderson's neighbour finds a dismembered corpse, which may prove the innocence of an imprisoned man.
10. Endangered Species
Air Date: 1994-05-15
Margaret and Henderson side with Reynard the Fox in opposing a new bypass, while Henry must question his loyalties.
1. Money Talks
Air Date: 1995-12-31
The restaurant is heavily in debt, and the Crabbe's new bank manager is unsympathetic. Steve and John have left for pastures new, and an agency chef is unsatisfactory. Crabbe learns that Dudley Hooperman is dead, and resurrects his hopes of early retirement. Meantime there is a surveillance operation to be run on a dodgy pizza delivery business.
2. Game Pie
Air Date: 1996-01-07
Henry supplies the catering at his friend Alistair's pheasant shoot, where Fisher is among the guests. Another member of the party is shot and killed and it looks as if Fisher accidentally shot him but Henry's investigation reveals a crime of passion involving a love triangle, a jealous husband - and a cover-up.
3. Irish Stew
Air Date: 1996-01-14
The large family of much-married Irishwoman Kit Kelly book the restaurant for a wedding banquet for her and her new husband, American television writer Byron De Goris. Byron's briefcase is stolen from his hotel and Henry is suspicious of his reaction and even more so when Margaret tells him that the groom is not Byron De Goris but his friend James Jackson. Margaret had known them both thirty years earlier and discovers that Byron killed himself and James assumed his identity. Henry has to find out why.
4. Doggett's Coat and Badge
Air Date: 1996-01-21
Charles Rider, a wine-loving regular at Pie in the Sky, is being threatened. It turns out he is really Joseph Webb, an ex-burglar turned supergrass, and now in witness protection. His collection includes many valuable bottles of wine, some of them stolen property and formerly owned by a bent policeman. His cronies have tracked Webb down and want the most priceless bottle back. So Rider comes to Henry Crabbe for help. Can Crabbe restore justice while keeping his friend safe?
5. This Other Eden
Air Date: 1996-01-28
Di Crabbe and DS Cambridge are assigned to investigate a spate of garden thefts carried out while the owners are away for a few days. It's not just a few plants that are being stolen - whole gardens are being stripped. The only person appearing to benefit is landscape designer Alan Wellbeloved, who becomes the prime suspect for the robberies. Returning home, Henry is horrified to discover that Margaret has hired Wellbeloved to redesign the restaurant's back garden to provide an outdoor dining area.
6. Coddled Eggs
Air Date: 1996-02-04
Car crime is on the rise, with most of the vehicles being stolen from the car park at the railway station. Henry's problems mount as he not only has to deal with two separate sets of thieves, but also with a hostile new female Superintendent. Things come to a head when Fisher's car is nicked at the station right under his nose. Back at the restaurant Gary and Margaret are being given a hard time by an over-zealous Food Inspector. Will she do as she is threatening and close the restaurant down?
1. Squashed Tomatoes
Air Date: 1997-06-29
DI Crabbe's first job with his new team of PC Guthrie and WPC Morton is to guard a new housing development which has been subjected to vandalism. Nearby villagers claim that one of the houses is built in the path of a centuries old right of way. Henderson is in trouble for growing and selling varieties of tomatoes not approved by the E.E.C. And the new waitress in the restaurant gets the cold shoulder from Gary, who is missing the recently departed Nicola.
2. Ugly Customers
Air Date: 1997-07-06
Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths) is posted to guard a jury deliberating in a fraud case, who have been sequestered in a ghastly hotel. Crabbe has to find out who is intimidating the jurors, and how the villain is getting to them. Meanwhile he comes to the aid of the hotel's talented cook (John Thomson) who is cruelly oppressed by the jobsworth manager. Back at Crabbe's restaurant an obnoxious customer is giving new waitress Sally (Marsha Thomason) a hard time.
3. Pork Pies
Air Date: 1997-07-13
Fisher sends Henry and the squad to a meat factory where animal rights protesters are demonstrating against the owner,Mr. Trubb's use of veal in his Trubbs' Thunderbolt sausages. However, Henry finds to his surprise that the sausages contain soya and are wholly meat-free. Margaret, meanwhile, is concerned when her friend Julia, a wealthy widow, falls for a pilot much younger than herself and agrees to finance a bucket shop for him.
4. Cutting the Mustard
Air Date: 1997-07-20
Henry and his team are called to a private boarding school where police Commander Colin Stilwell's son Alex has been beaten up by local youths. Henry initially encounters a wall of insular hostility from the establishment before Alex points him to another pupil, who has blackmailed the Chemistry teacher into manufacturing Ecstasy tablets, which he is selling around the school. Gary meanwhile creates a new blend of mustard and attracts the attention of a large food manufacturer who offer to market it. However, they want to alter the recipe, making it taste more bland, whereupon Gary, taking a leaf from Henry's book, puts his culinary principles first and tells them that the deal is off.
5. Return Match
Air Date: 1997-07-27
Henry has to solve a series of thefts from lorries and gets unexpected help from private security firm Troubleshooters. Their accuracy is such that he is suspicious of how they came to know of the crimes and believes that there is a possible informer within police ranks feeding them information for a reward. Troubleshooters are due to play the police eleven in an important football match. Both teams boast an ex-professional, in the police team's case Kirk Flowerbridge, who has a murky past and a liking for the drink. Fisher tasks Henry with minding Kirk and keeping him sober for the match. In the process of helping Kirk,Henry gets to identify the informer.
6. The Apprentice
Air Date: 1997-08-03
As Fisher launches a campaign to make the police more popular with young people a boy called Nicky comes to Pie in the Sky, claiming he is there for work experience. Henry uses him in the kitchen and he impresses everyone but then the till is robbed and Nicky, who was not sent by any school, goes missing. His mother last saw him a week earlier, the night an off-licence was robbed by a violent teenage gang. Henry tracks Nicky down to a childhood haunt and finds out that he was bullied into joining the gang and now regrets it, which he proves by leading them into a police trap.
7. In the Smoke
Air Date: 1997-08-10
The Crabbes holiday in London in a flat owned by ex-policeman Nick Spencer whilst he is in America on business. However Margaret finds his packed suitcase under the bed and hears an answer-machine message from his daughter warning that her violent ex-con boyfriend Danny is on his way to see him. Henry discovers Nick in hiding whilst Margaret discovers Danny's corpse in the dust-bin, killed in self-defence by Nick. Henry's loyalty is put to the test, as is the patience of Sally and Gary when the agency staff turn out to be a quarrelsome married couple.
8. Smelling of Roses
Air Date: 1997-08-17
As Henry mysteriously loses his sense of smell he is intrigued when Fisher seems obsessed with arresting tyre exporter Peter Watson and suspects that Fisher, about to divorce his wife, is having an affair with Mrs. Watson. In fact she has discovered that her husband is defrauding her charity and is using Fisher to trap him. Having seen the case through Henry, feeling used by Fisher to catch Watson, resigns from the police and immediately regains his sense of smell. With Gary turning down the offer of work at another kitchen, Henry and his staff and colleagues have every reason to drink to the continuing success of Pie in the Sky.
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Rating
8.4/10
Release Date
1994-03-13
Episodes
40 (5 seasons)
Status
Ended
